PF - Ephesians 1:3-14

INTRO NEW SERIES: “in Christ” + God’s cosmic plan that affects and changes our lives

ASK KIDS TO WRITE THEIR NAMES ON THEIR BOOKS

There’s an old cartoon I used to watch when I was a kid. It’s called “What about Mimi?”. Now, you can guess that that character is Mimi. And basically, episode, something happens and then Mimi has to come up with a plan to solve the problem. Her catchphrase is literally “Mimi has a plan!”

Now, what if I told that GOD has a plan? Turn to your neighbour for 20 seconds and share what you think God’s plan might be. Over to you!

KIDS DISCUSS

Well, we don’t have to speculate. Because Paul tells us what God’s plan is! Look down at verse 10. Underline what you think God’s plan is from that verse. Maybe even write PLAN in all caps!

So, according to verse 10, God’s plan is to unite all things under Jesus’ leadership. God’s plan is to fix everything and say “There you go Jesus, you can have this!”

But here’s the question that we need to ask: how do you and I fit into that plan? How do we fit into God’s plan to unite everything under Jesus?

LEADER READS PASSAGE

In verses 4-9, Paul gives us a roadmap to explain how we fit into God’s plan! Let’s take it step by step. And when I say step, all I’m saying is that there’s an order to all of this. Paul is not trying to give you a detailed explanation about WHEN this happened. He’s just explaining WHAT happened.

Step 1: Verse 4 - God chose us. Maybe circle that and write 1 next to it. Or maybe write it on the page on the right. Step 1 - God chose us.

Step 2: Verse 5. What’s step 2? God PREDESTINED us. Now, let me say that this idea of God predestining people is often something Christians talk a lot about. You can ask me about it at the end if you want.

But here’s what I think is the main thing to understand from these two steps. Everyone - on your feet.

Imagine a line here in the middle. On this side, it’s God. On this side, it’s us. My question is: so far, who had the initiative for us to be included in God’s plan?

LET KIDS CHOOSE

Great, that’s it. Whatever we want to say about God choosing or predestining, we have to agree that He took the first step, right? We didn’t say to God “Can you please include us in your plan?” He said “I will include you in my plan”. Why? Verse 4 - because He LOVES us!

Step 3: Verse 7 - we were redeemed and forgiven. In other words, we were rescued from sin by Jesus who died to forgive us. We were saved by Him and we became part of God’s people!

Step 4: End of verse 7 and verse 8 - we received God’s grace. And not just a bit but God lavished it on us. As in, He gave us lots and lots and lots of grace!

Step 5: Verses 8-9 - God told us the plan.

So, let’s recap. This is God’s Mission “Unite everything under Jesus!”. Or “UEUJ” for short! How do we fit into that plan?

God chose us.

God predestined us.

God saved us + made us part of His people.

God gave us His grace.

God told us the plan.

Do you see, then? How we fit into God’s plan? Guys, we ARE PART of God’s plan! We are part of that EVERYTHING that’s going to be under Jesus’ leadership!

And you might be thinking “Pff, big deal.” But think about it.

Show of hands - who here thinks God is important?

Now, 30 seconds to chat with your neighbour. What would you do if you saw your favourite actor/singer/football player/etc. on the street?

KIDS DISCUSS

I love reading books about Christianity. And two years ago, I was at Conference with one of my favourite authors. So, I went to him and asked a question. What do you think I asked?

That’s right - I asked for a selfie. And here it is!

SHOW PICTURE WITH JIM HAMILTON

When we see someone important, we want to be near them. We want to be part of their life, even if it’s just for a selfie!

But we just said that God is important. In fact, He is THE MOST important person ever! And He has a plan that we’re a part of!

And here’s the bonus. Remember how you got up to tell me who made the first move? You said God made the first move!

Guys, we didn’t go to God to grab a selfie. We didn’t run to Him so He could save us a spot in His plan. No, HE came to US!

Next week we’re going to think about this more. But the story of the Bible is how God came close to bring us close to Him. We often think we have to go to God. But God came to us! He made us part of His plan!

But there’s a key detail we haven’t mentioned yet. This all depends on what we think of Jesus.

Grab your pencil. Go through verses 3 to 14. And circle all the things Paul mentions “in Christ” or “in Him”. 10 seconds.

How many times did you spot it?

So, out loud, what do you think Paul is trying to show us by saying “in Christ”, “in Him” over and over again?

Bingo. Guys, our part in God’s plan - us being saved and being a member of God’s people - it all depends on Jesus. It depends on whether or not we are IN Jesus. Remember what I said at the start - this is a key thing in the book of Ephesians. It’s going to come back again and again.

And being “in Jesus” means trusting IN HIM. So, here’s what Paul is saying: our place in God’s plan - the “Unite everything under Jesus” Plan - the plan to fix everything and to save us - it all depends on whether or not we trust in Jesus. It depends on whether or not we are IN Him.

So, I ask you this: are you IN Jesus? Have you put your trust in Him? That’s the question to keep coming back to as we go through this book. And it’s our hope and prayers as leaders that all of you, whether now or in the future or maybe even already, we hope and pray that you would all put your trust in Jesus, be saved and be part of God’s plan to fix everything.

Let me pray and then we can have questions if there are any.

PRAY